Impact rating of Co.Creator: 

Week 1: "Highs: new adventure, challenging and crystalising. Co.Creator has a laser beam focus, and will take no prisoners! Lows: challenge of finding high level participants for interviews feels overwhelming - BUT! will give it everything I can. The process learning materials, udacity etc look excellent, v curious about your adaptations to the BMC. Thanks for a fab first session :)"

 

"Great to go through the finer details of the program and see exactly what’s required of me.  I love reading and learning new things so was very happy to see the amount of articles to be read and videos to watch.  I like that I can now tie the learning directly to my idea (whereas my previous learning of the same kind has been towards a more general improvement in myself holistically). Coming up with the problem on the spot was a good challenge!  Already I can see that my thoughts need to be more focused and sharp in order to successfully communicate my vision and solution.  I look forward to coming up with a hard-hitting response to these questions.

 

Getting out of the building is a new concept, and one that will definitely push my comfort zone.  This is because until now I’ve been highly passionate about my solution to the problems I see in education, but to get out and do something about it with real customers and advisors will be scary." The first diagram in this document of the startup curve made me feel great, as I fell straight into the ‘trough of sorrow’ after presenting my initial registration to the Tasmanian School Registration Board.  It’s reassuring to know that this is normal, and that there is a way out!

 

Week 2:  Already working on who to talk to! Will be a good challenge to start writing the scripts. Was good to hear the criticisms of the canvas, and they all make sense, especially the constraints point and the why point. Was interesting to hear about how this why is different to Sinek's (more focused on the solution).  I really like Co.Creator's model having just looked at it, and am looking forward to seeing how it works once I start entering the strategic intents."

 

Week 3: This call clarified a few problems I had in understanding different aspects of the customer script, and it was great to workshop my draft script for Justin.  It was also really good to get started on the innovation canvas and I look forward to completing that further. I was upset that I couldn't get out of the building before this call except for emailing follow up questions to Justin. It's good to be pushed like this to get out, so now I have to find lots of parents to talk to! Wow that went quickly!  Time flies when fully occupied and having fun! I remember Zevae saying that this would be difficult, and you’re definitely right.  I never imagined that I would be actually getting out there and speaking with people (something my introverted self would never have done).  After this initial part of the program, however, I’m feeling much more comfortable asking for people’s advice and thoughts.  Already I can see my networks increasing in value - a great by-product was being able to connect Maths Pathway with Tom Brunzell at Berry St. It was fantastic to be able to see the value of my calls and emails during the last call as we narrowed down the problem definitions.  It truly shows why I needed to GOTB, and I can see my idea starting to gain much more clarity."

Week 4: "It feels great to be pushed this way.  Before this program it was just me battling the fear in my brain, and to be honest, my brain was winning.  Now I have awesome direction and meaning.  To finally be working on the idea again is exhilarating, and a reminder of why I came up with it in the first place. All good at this stage.  Was happy that I managed to call 4 parents despite a typhoon taking a day out of my work, although I had forgotten to show both value propositions to parents.  I had forgotten  the importance of it for getting parents to give more honest feedback. Was frustrating trying to call schools - called 10, no one was available to talk, emailed, no one replied.  This market will be hard!"

 

Week 5:  Good to hear that other people also struggle to get into schools, and good to get some ideas around how to connect.  I was happy with the further narrowing down of the value propositions, and am excited about how they’re taking shape. Great to have the MVPs drawn up to see what this has come to so far, and keen to start the selling process (also apprehensive!) .  Was disappointed with the response rate from schools this week, but will push even harder with the MVP one-pagers.  Looking forward to the new readings too.

 

Week 6: "Website time!  Very exciting.  Was very exciting also to see the enthusiasm from the schools I spoke with, and to discuss the way forward with them.  Interesting to start thinking about the week 6 cut-off, but I really want to pursue the parents solution first - I think going through schools is the only way I can get to parents, so will think about the newsletter options with that. Good call, covered everything efficiently. Annoyed that I forgot to publish latest changes before linking to draft website on Tuesday, but would probably have had the same issue of not seeing it from a customer's perspective. I need to practice my creativity too. Very grateful to have you helping me with the redesigns given your experience. Also very happy that I have a third customer on board. Unfortunately couldn't talk with my principal due to his meetings this week but looking forward to his call on Monday. Will think of how to get even further out of my comfort zone now and directly find parents for feedback!"

 

Week 7: "It was a tough week for me this week, with a lot of personal questioning, but I feel a lot better now - it was good spending the extra hour to work out the details, and to talk in more detail about my broader thoughts on entrepreneurialism in general.  A lot to get done, and methods of moving forward, which is great."  

 

Week 8: "Very exciting to see (Co.Creator created) websites - can’t wait to see how they’re received by customers. Really enjoyed the brainstorming for the foundation scholarship application. It was interesting to see the effect of missing one call - whilst it gave me breathing space the pressure certainly helps get more things done - makes me appreciate the power of accountability. I have noticed a massive increase in my confidence and ability to think on my feet - also have reduced my fear when making calls. Good discussions around the readings, I’m starting to get a better insight into the startup world.  Lots of work to do this week, which is good.  Hoping to have parents contact this week, and have my school give me their feedback.  Looking forward to getting in touch with activity providers too, which will be very insightful.  The idea of Kickstarter is an interesting one, and will help me get the idea in front of a lot more people, which will be great."